Tuesday, December 20, 2011

A little story about the stomach flu.

Being sick around one's spouse is probably one of the least and most sexy things about being married. Least because you see each other at the worst, but most because you still love one another deeply despite it. That's true love.

For the past three days, I have mostly been living on tomato soup, juice, and 7up. The stomach flu has swept through our house, taking both of us as its victims at the same time.

We had grand plans for winter break: an outing to celebrate the anniversary of Aspen's adoption; a staycation in San Diego, enjoying the sunshine that we have been too busy to enjoy the past few weeks; a mini vacation to Los Angeles, hitting up spots that we haven't been to in ages like the Getty Museum. We wanted to be tourists in Southern California, creating our own little adventures.

But life had other plans for us, as it so often does with any goal I attempt to set. Lately, it feels like once I actually speak out loud of a goal or plan, it ensures that the opposite will happen.

This is life. So it's been three days of intermittent rest for us. Sometimes feeling rested, other times feeling pain and exhaustion. But we are starting to feel better. And we love each other a little more than we did three days ago, merely because we have been a solace to each other.

It means something when you come back from the bathroom for the fifth time in a couple hours, unshowered, looking like death, and your husband still whispers to you, "You look beautiful." I know I didn't look the slightest bit beautiful in that moment or any of those that have taken place lately, but he sees beyond my exterior, and that means something.

Today, we are feeling a bit better. I took a three hour nap this afternoon, and while I was sleeping Matt cleaned up the mess that had been accumulating for the past few sick days. In the moment I woke up, it meant the world to me. I told him, "I know you have done so many nice things for me in the time I have known you, but right now, you cleaning the house up means the most to me."

And that's a little story about how the stomach flu changed high hopes for time off work together, but love continues to grow in the face of plans spoiled.

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hello.

My name is Brooke and I live in San Diego, California. I am a mother, teacher, traveler, runner, hiker, explorer of my city, social justice seeker, and one of my favorite hobbies is capturing life through my camera lens. I use this space for the little and big things in life that bring me joy.